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- Actor
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The name may have been forgotten, especially today (seven decades later), but the portly, apoplectic, exasperated figure on the 1930s screen wasn't. While his film career, save a couple of silents, lasted a paltry seven years (1932-1939), character actor Walter Connolly certainly ran the distance. While some film historians complain that a number of his performances were annoying or overbaked, he was for the most part applauded for his zesty contributions to a number of comedy classics. Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933), Broadway Bill (1934) and It Happened One Night (1934), not to mention the Carole Lombard/Fredric March screwball farce Nothing Sacred (1937) as news reporter March's hot-headed editor boss are sure-fire examples.
The Cincinnati, Ohio native was born on April 8, 1887 and schooled there. The son of the head of the Western Union relay office, he attended St. Xavier College and the University of Dublin in Ireland before making his New York debut in 1910 in an outdoor presentation of "As You Like It". For the next year or so he was a member of E.H. Sothern's touring company and played supporting roles in a number of Shakespearean shows on the road. After a few silent pictures left him unimpressed with film-making, he turned to the Broadway stage in the 1920s and scored quite well. Somewhat short and tubby, it was not difficult for the jowly, mustachioed actor to seize laughs and he found his share in such outings as "The Talking Parrot" (1923), "Applesauce" (1925), "The Springboard" (1927), "The Happy Husband" (1928), "Stepping Out" (1929), "Your Uncle Dudley" (1930), "Anatol" (1931), "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (1931), "The Good Fairy" (1932) and "The Late Christopher Bean" (1932).
With his talents as a stage farceur firmly established, it was time to make a second attempt at a film career and Hollywood (specifically, Columbia) wisely opened their doors to him. Interestingly, his debut in a full-length talking picture came at age 45 in the form of a drama, Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932), where he was third-billed as a rather benign senator. For the next seven years Connolly, often playing older than he really was, could be found everywhere giving good fluster to the greatest and glossiest of stars -- Janet Gaynor, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, and Ginger Rogers, among hordes of others.
Every now and then he was asked to hold up a film, as with his leading roles in the drama Whom the Gods Destroy (1934), the Hecht/MacArthur comedy/drama Soak the Rich (1936), and the whodunnits Father Brown, Detective (1934) (as the title priest/gumshoe) and The League of Frightened Men (1937) (as supersleuth Nero Wolfe). Connolly's archetypal fuming was on full display in the comedies She Couldn't Take It (1935) with George Raft and Joan Bennett and Fifth Avenue Girl (1939) with Ginger Rogers. His last role was as the great composer himself in the highly fictional The Great Victor Herbert (1939), although it wasn't the leading role.
Connolly married actress Nedda Harrigan in 1920. The two appeared together in the Broadway comedies "Treat 'Em Rough" (1926) and "Merry Andrew" (1929). They had one daughter, actress Ann Connolly (1924-2006), who also appeared on stage and played the grownup Wendy in the 'Mary Martin' /Cyril Ritchard Broadway production of "Peter Pan" in 1954. Ironically, Connolly, whose obesity was probably a contributing factor to his fatal stroke suffered on May 28, 1940, received his final divorce decree on the day he died. He was only 53.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
The son of a lumberman, Tom Mix joined the army as a young man and was an artillery sergeant during the Philippine campaign from 1898 to 1901, though he never saw action. In fact, Mix deserted from the army and carefully kept the facts about his military service a closely guarded secret. About 1903 he was drum major with the Oklahoma Cavalry Band, playing in the St. Louis World's Fair. In 1904 he was a bartender and sheriff/marshal in Dewey, Oklahoma. He was in a series of Wild West shows, such as The Miller Bros. Wild West Show, from 1906-1909; the Widerman show in Amarillo, Texas; with wife Olive Mix in Seattle's Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition; and Will A. Dickey's Circle D Ranch. The latter supplied Selig Pictures with cowboys and Indians for movies and, in 1910, Mix was hired by Selig to provide and handle horses. His first movie was Ranch Life in the Great Southwest (1910). He continued with Selig until 1917, writing and directing as well as acting. He was signed by Fox Films in 1917 and remained with them until 1928, averaging five or so films a year. His popularity eclipsed all other great cowboy stars (Hoot Gibson and even the legendary William S. Hart) of the silent era and he earned--and spent--millions.
In addition to Mix's riding and shooting skills, the films also showcased the talents of his amazing horse, Tony the Horse. Sound and encroaching middle age were not favorable to Mix, and after making a handful of pictures during the sound era he left the film industry after 1935's serial, The Miracle Rider (1935) (a huge hit for lowly Mascot Pictures, grossing over $1 million; Mix earned $40,000), touring with the Sells Floto Circus in 1930 and 1931 and the Tom Mix Circus from 1936 to 1938. While Mix was a great showman, the combination of the Depression and the high overhead of his traveling shows conspired against his success. Mix developed a comical style, emphasizing fast action thrills to a greater extent than had been common in earlier westerns, and he did his own stunts. He was king of the cowboys during the 1920s and remained popular on radio and in comic books for more than a decade after his death. He died in an auto accident in 1940.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
While Charley Chase is far from being as famous as "The Big Three" (Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd) today, he's highly respected as one of the "greats" by fans of silent comedy.
Chase (real name Charles Parrott) was born in Maryland, USA, in 1893. After a brief career in vaudeville, burlesque, and musical comedy he appeared with Al Christie at Universal Studios as a comedian in 1913 before moving to the Mack Sennett Studios the following year. His career in films did not start off with remarkable success. He played bit parts in a large number of short comedies, coming to notice in 'The Knockout' with Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Edgar Kennedy and The Keystone Cops. This was followed by appearing in a number of films written and directed by Chaplin. At the end of 1914 he was one of the stars in the spectacular Tillie's Punctured Romance featuring all the stars on the lot, and which took 14 weeks to shoot. He spent another year with Sennett starring in his own shorts, one of his first being Settled at the Seaside co starring Mae Busch. In 1915he started directing films using his real name and switching to his stage name when starring. He moved to Fox Studios in 1916 where he directed, wrote and starred in comedies some of which featured Chester Conklin. After a couple of further studio moves he rejoined Sennett then went to Paramount before arriving at Hal Roach Studios in 1920 as a director, before Roach realized what a gifted performer he had hired. "I can play anything!" Chase told Roach, and eventually his claim was confirmed. Although Mack Sennett's Keystone studio has earned legendary status as the ultimate factory of comic invention, it can hardly be denied that Roach developed a more refined style of comedy which obviously fitted Chase better (indeed, Sennett's unsophisticated product increasingly lost favor with the movie-going public by the early 1920s, while Roach's studio flourished). During five years, 1924-29, he starred in nearly a hundred two-reelers, most of which were directed by Leo McCarey.
Chase usually portrayed an apparently gentle and charming man who in reality, it eventually turned out, was quite a loser after all. His character was largely inspired by Lloyd Hamilton, another neglected comedian whom Chase had directed in several two-reelers. Among Charley's most memorable shorts are Innocent Husbands, Mighty Like a Moose, and Movie Night.
From the beginning, Charley Chase was a "critics' darling," but none of his movies were remarkably successful at the box office. There is no official "explanation" to this, but one reason may be that Chase, in contrast to the more popular clowns, never starred in any feature during the silent period. On a personal level, Chase was severely hobbled by alcoholism, which is unapparent in his films.
Chase made several promising appearances after the talkies arrived, in 1929-30, especially in Laurel and Hardy's highly acclaimed feature Sons of the Desert (1933). Despite this, he was never offered any further appearances in features. But he continued to perform in shorts and did also direct some of the Three Stooges' early movies. He died in 1940, not yet 47 years of age, of a heart attack. It is reasonable to believe that his early death was to a large extent caused by his addiction to alcohol, a problem which had troubled his family for several years. His brother James, also an actor, had died the year before. The two brothers had been close throughout their lives, although their personal problems frequently affected each other (or perhaps that was the reason for their being so close.) Chase was married to Bebe Eltinge from 1914, a marriage that lasted until his death and produced two daughters, Polly and June.
Chase's silent work was celebrated on DVD in two volumes from Kino Video. At long last his comic genius is being recognized.- "There are no second acts in American lives," wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, who himself went from being the high priest of the Jazz Age to a down-and-out alcoholic within the space of 20 years, but not before giving the world several literary masterpieces, the most famous of which is "The Great Gatsby" (1924).
He was born in 1896 to a mother who spoiled him shamelessly, leading him to grow up an especially self-possessed young man. While he was obsessed by the image of Princeton University, he flunked out, less interested in Latin and trigonometry than bathtub gin and "bright young things". The brightest was an unconventional young lady from Montgomery, Alabama named Zelda Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald invoked the jealousy of numerous local boys, some of whom had even begun a fraternity in Zelda's honor, by snagging her shortly before the publication of his first novel, "This Side of Paradise". The novel was a huge success, and Fitzgerald suddenly found himself the most highly-paid writer in America.
During the mid-to-late '20s the Fitzgeralds lived in Europe among many American expatriates including Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway and Thornton Wilder. He wrote what is considered his greatest masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby", while living in Paris. It was at the end of this period (1924-30) that his marriage to the highly strung, demanding and mentally unstable Zelda began to unravel. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent much of the rest of her life in a variety of mental institutions. Fitzgerald turned more and more to alcohol. In 1930 a major crisis came when Zelda had a series of psychotic attacks, beginning a descent into madness and schizophrenia from which she would never recover. Much of Fitzgerald's income would now be dedicated to keeping his wife in mental hospitals. Emotionally and creatively wrung out, he wrote "Tender is The Night" (1934), the story of Dick Diver and his schizophrenic wife Nicole, that shows the pain that he felt himself. In the mid-30s Fitzgerald had a breakdown of his own. He had become a clinical alcoholic, something he would detail in his famous "The Crack-Up" series of essays.
With Zelda institutionalized on the East Coast, it was Hollywood that proved to be Fitzgerald's salvation. Although he had little success in writing for films, which he had attempted several times previously, he was paid well and gained a new professional standing. His experiences there inspired "The Last Tycoon", his last--and unfinished--novel which some believe might have been his greatest of all. Fitzgerald died at the home of his mistress, writer Sheilah Graham, of a heart attack in 1940, believing himself to be a failed and broken man. He never knew that he would one day be considered one of the finest writers of the 20th century. - Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
First of all, the cross-eyed comedian of silent days was not born that way. Supposedly his right eye slipped out of alignment while playing the role of the similarly afflicted Happy Hooligan in vaudeville and it never adjusted. Ironically, it was this disability that would enhance his comic value and make him a top name.
Ben Turpin was born in New Orleans in 1869, the son of a French-born confectionery store owner. When 7 years old, his father moved to New York's lower East Side. A wanderlust fellow by nature, Turpin lived the life of a hobo in his early adult years. He started up his career by chance while bumming in Chicago where he drew laughs at parties. An ad in a newspaper looking for comedy acts caught his eye and he successfully booked shows along with a partner. Going solo, he performed on the burlesque circuit as well as under circus tents and invariably entertained his audiences by doing tricks, vigorous pratfalls and, of course, crossing his eyes. One of his more familiar sight gags was a backwards tumble he called the "108." He happened upon the Happy Hooligan persona while playing on the road and kept the hapless character as part of routine for 17 years.
He started in films at age 38 in 1907, joining Essanay Studios shortly after the company began operating in Chicago. He also became their resident janitor for a spell. He stayed with the company for two years but remained on the edges of obscurity. Appearing sporadically in silent comedy shorts, he typically played dorky characters who always did something wrong. His big break came when he returned to Essanay and was introduced to Charles Chaplin, who immediately took to him and set him up with Mack Sennett. By 1917 Sennett had turned Turpin into a top comedy draw. With his trademark crossed eyes and thick mustache, he made scores of slapstick films alongside the likes of Mabel Normand and 'Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle', among others. Most notable were his films that parodied hit movies of the day such as his The Shriek of Araby (1923), in which his character lampooned Rudolph Valentino. Turpin's true forte was impersonating the most dashingly romantic and sophisticated stars of the day and turning them into clumsy oafs.
Turpin retired from full time acting in 1924 to care for his ailing wife Canadian comedy actress Carrie Turpin (nee LeMieux). After her death the following year he returned but his marquee value had slipped drastically. The advent of sound pretty much marked the end to his special brand of physical comedy. He was only glimpsed from then on, mostly in comic cameos for other top stars such as a bit as a plumber with Laurel & Hardy in Saps at Sea (1940), his last. He died of heart disease that same year.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Edward E. Clive was a Welsh-born actor/manager, initially, it seemed, slated for a medical career. After four years, he suddenly elected to abandon his studies at the University of Wales. For the next ten years, he trod the boards in diverse theatrical productions across Britain, becoming adept at a variety of regional dialects. Clive arrived in the United States in 1912 and set up the Copley Theatre Stock Company in Boston, with himself as leading performer. By the 1920's, he made a name for himself as a producer and director on Broadway ("The Creaking Chair",1926; "The Whispering Gallery",1929; "The Bellamy Trial",1931). He also continued in his position as director of the Copley.
Clive arrived on Hollywood screens relatively late in life, making his debut with The Invisible Man (1933). Thereafter, he was effectively typecast in a long line of austere, humourless British butlers, town mayors and haughty aristocrats, his demeanour invariably ranging from gloomy to irritable. Though most these parts were often quite small, Clive managed to steal the odd scene or two. At his best, he was the burgomaster in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Sir Humphrey Harcourt in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) and (in a recurring role), manservant 'Tenny' Tennison in several instalments of Paramount's 'Bulldog Drummond' series.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Berton Churchill was born on 9 December 1876 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for Stagecoach (1939), Sweethearts (1938) and Steamboat Round the Bend (1935). He was married to Harriet Elizabeth Gardner. He died on 10 October 1940 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Otis Harlan was born on 29 December 1865 in Zanesville, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Show Boat (1929), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) and Nine and Three-Fifths Seconds (1925). He was married to Nellie Harvey. He died on 21 January 1940 in Martinsville, Indiana, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Eddie Collins was born on 30 January 1883 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for The Blue Bird (1940), Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938) and Quick Millions (1939). He was married to Florence Wilmot (actress). He died on 2 September 1940 in Arcadia, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
James Hall was born on 22 October 1900 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Hell's Angels (1930), Millie (1931) and Four Sons (1928). He was married to Irene Gardner. He died on 7 June 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA.- Walter Miller was born on 9 March 1892 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for King of the Wild (1931), Queen of the Northwoods (1929) and The Green Archer (1925). He was married to Lillian Louise Coffin and Eileen Schofield. He died on 30 March 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Earl Dwire was born on 3 October 1883 in Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Randy Rides Alone (1934), Radio Patrol (1937) and The Lawless Frontier (1934). He was married to Elizabeth Alice Maddeaux and Ruth Lechler, nee Castle. He died on 16 January 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
- Producer
Flora Finch was born in London, England, on June 17, 1867. After spending time on the legitimate stage, she began to make films, and was one of the early comedy stars of the silent-film era. Her first film was Mrs. Jones Entertains (1909). After making nine more films she began appearing with rotund comic John Bunny, and together they would make more than 250 shorts over the next five years, becoming the cinema's first popular comedy team. Among their more popular titles were The New Stenographer (1911), The Subduing of Mrs. Nag (1911) and A Cure for Pokeritis (1912). She made other films on her own in addition to those she made with Bunny, and after he died in 1915 she began her own series of comedy shorts, although not meeting with the kind of success she had with Bunny. By the time the sound era began she was relegated to minor supporting roles and bit parts, although she did have a fairly decent role in The Scarlet Letter (1934) with Colleen Moore, as one of the self-righteous women in Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of life in colonial America. Finch retired from acting after appearing in The Women (1939), ending a long and illustrious career. On January 4, 1940, she died of rheumatic fever, brought on by a streptococcus infection, in Los Angeles, California. She was 70 years old.- John Wray was an American character actor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was primarily active during the 1930s.
Wray's real name was "John Griffith Malloy". He had a notable theatrical career, and appeared regularly in Broadway. In the late 1920s, there was a transition from silent films to sound films. Many stage actors headed to Hollywood, in the hope that their acting experience may help them find steady work in the new medium. Wray was one of the actors in this wave of prospective film stars.
Wray made his film debut in "New York Nights" (1929), where he played racketeer Joe Prividi. Prividi was the film's main villain, and the role helped Wray find steady work as a heavy. Among his most notable roles was sadistic drill instructor Himmelstoss in "All Quiet On The Western Front" (1930), gangster Morton Bradstreet in "The Czar of Broadway", con-artist Frog in "The Miracle Man" (1932), the starving farmer in "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), and prison warden Wheeler in "You Only Live Once" (1937).
Wray's career was seemingly in decline by the late 1930s, when he was at times reduced to the role of an uncredited extra. But he continued acting until 1940, with his last known role being a bit part in the screwball comedy "The Doctor Takes a Wife" (1940). Wray died in April 1940, at the age of 53. - Florence Roberts was born on 16 March 1861 in Frederick, Maryland, USA. She was an actress, known for March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934), Les Misérables (1935) and Off to the Races (1937). She was married to Walter Gale (actor). She died on 6 June 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Although he occasionally played honest police officials or army officers, New York-born C. Henry Gordon excelled at playing oily, duplicitous villains, whether gangsters, businessmen or evil rulers. Among the many evildoers he portrayed, his most memorable would have to be the murderous Surat Khan, who massacred prisoners, women and children, in the classic Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936).
- Robert Pershing Wadlow was born on February 22, 1918 in Alton, Illinois. His height of 8' 11.1" qualifies him as the tallest person in history, as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. Robert was the first born of Addie and Harold Wadlow. He had two sisters, Helen and Betty, and two brothers, Eugene and Harold Jr., all of whom were of average height and weight. His excessive height was due to an overactive pituitary gland, for which there was no treatment at the time. According to records kept in his hometown of Alton, Robert enjoyed collecting stamps, photography, and the Boy Scouts, becoming the world's tallest Boy Scout when he was 13 years old. He was also regarded as being very quiet, earning him the nickname "Gentle Giant." When he turned 20 Robert traveled for the International Shoe Company, who provided him with free shoes (which usually cost $100 a pair). His father had to remove the front passenger seat of the family car so Robert could sit in the back seat. Due to poor circulation, Robert had little sensation in his feet and did not notice when problems like blisters developed. In July of 1940 a blister on his ankle led to an infection that, despite treatment, ended his life on the morning of July 15th. Robert was buried in his hometown of Alton. All city businesses closed for the funeral, which was attended by tens of thousands of people. The 1,000-pound casket required 12 pallbearers. In 1985 a life-sized bronze statue of Robert was erected on the campus of the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine.
- Extremely popular silent star of the 1920s. Her popularity was enhanced when she co-starred with Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik (1921) and The Son of the Sheik (1926). She made her screen debut at Essanay Studios in 1915. While she was popular in the 1920s (thanks to the patronage of her lover, Jesse Lasky), her popularity had slipped by the time she briefly retired from the screen in 1927. Divorces, lawsuits and mental health battles all took their toll on her. Ayres returned to the movies almost immediately after but had difficulty re-establishing herself. She hoped that a bit part in Souls at Sea (1937) would lead to a comeback but it did not. She died three years later of a cerebral hemorrhage.
- Maurice Moscovitch was born on 23 November 1871 in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was an actor, known for The Great Dictator (1940), Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) and Love Affair (1939). He died on 18 June 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Harry Bernard was born on 13 January 1878 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Shadow (1937), Saps at Sea (1940) and Bedtime Worries (1933). He died on 4 November 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
John Monk Saunders was born on 22 November 1895 in Hinckley, Minnesota, USA. He was a writer and director, known for The Dawn Patrol (1930), Wings (1927) and Devil Dogs of the Air (1935). He was married to Fay Wray and Avis Bissell (Hughes). He died on 11 March 1940 in Ft. Myers, Florida, USA.- Mikhail A. Bulgakov was a Russian writer and medical doctor known for big screen adaptations of his books, such as Beg (1971) and Master i Margarita (2006).
He was born Mikhail Afanasievich Bulgakov on May 15, 1891, in Kiev, Russia (now Kiev, Ukraine). He was the first of six children in the family of a theology professor. His family belonged to the intellectual elite of Kiev. Bulgakov with his brothers took part in the demonstration commemorating the death of Lev Tolstoy. Bulgakov graduated with honors from the Medical School of Kiev University in 1915. He married his classmate Tatiana Lippa, who became his assistant at surgeries and in his Doctor's office. He practiced medicine, specializing in venereal and other infectious diseases from 1915 to 1919.
Bulgakov wrote about his experiences as a doctor in his early works "Notes of a Young Doctor." In 1917-1919, he suffered from an infection that caused him an unbearable painful itch requiring him to take morphine; which he became addicted to, but he managed to overcome the dependency and quit. He joined the anti-communist White Army in the Russian Civil War. After the Civil War, he tried to emigrate from Russia, to reunite with his brother in Paris. But he became trapped in Soviet Russia. Several times he was almost killed by opposing forces on both sides of the Russian Civil War, but soldiers needed doctors, so Bulgakov was left alive. He provided medical help to the Chehchens, Caucasians, Cossacs, Russians, the Whites, the Reds... Bulgakov was the Doctor to all the sick people.
In 1921, Bulgakov moved to Moscow. There he became a writer and made friends with Valentin Kataev, Yuriy Olesha, Ilya Ilf, Yevgeni Petrov, and Konstantin Paustovsky. Later, he met Mikhail Zoschenko, Anna Akhmatova, Viktor Ardov, Sergey Mikhalkov, and Korney Ivanovich Chukovskiy. Bulgakov's plays at the Moscow Art Theatre were directed by Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. "Days of the Turbins," about the demise of the White Army, was performed more than 200 times at the Moscow Art Theatre, and also at other Soviet theatres until it was banned.
The play was later restored to the repertoire and at least fifteen performances of this play were attended by Joseph Stalin. Stalin liked the play and later, in his official speeches, he used some of the well-written lines that were spoken from the stage by the Bulgakov's characters. In 1941, after the Nazi invasion in Russia during the Second World War, Joseph Stalin started his first radio address to the people of the Soviet Union with Bulgakov's words from the play, "Brothers and Sisters..."
Bulgakov's political independence was expressed in his article on the death of the first Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin, "He killed a river of people..." wrote Bulgakov in 1924.
Bugakov's own way of life and his witty criticism of the ugly realities of life in the Soviet Union caused him much trouble. In 1925 he released 'Heart of a Dog', a bitter satire about the loss of civilized values in Russia under the Soviet system. Soon after, Bulgakov was interrogated by the Soviet secret service, OGPU. After interrogations, his personal diary and several unfinished works were confiscated by the secret service.
His plays were banned in all theaters, which terminated his income. Being financially broke, he wrote to his brother in Paris about his terrible life and poverty in Moscow. Bulgakov distanced himself from the Proletariat Writer's Union because he refused to write about the peasants and proletariat. He made adaptation of the "Dead Souls" by Nikolay Gogol for the stage; it became a success but was abruptly banned.
He took a risk and wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin with an ultimatum: "Let me out of the Soviet Union, or restore my work at the theaters." On the 18th of April of 1930, Bulgakov received a telephone call from Joseph Stalin. The dictator told the writer to fill an employment application at the Moscow Art Theater. Gradually, Bulgakov's plays were back in the repertoire of the Moscow Art Theatre. But most other theatres were in fear and did not stage any of the Bulgakov's plays for many years.
Joseph Stalin, who was increasingly paranoid, ordered massive extermination of intellectuals during the repressions known as the "Great Terror" (aka.. Great Purge). Many of Bulgakov's friends and colleagues, like Vladimir Mayakovsky, Osip Mandelstam, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Anna Akhmatova, Mikhail Zoschenko and many others were censored, banned, prosecuted, exiled, imprisoned, executed, found dead, or just disappeared without a trace.
At that time Bulgakov started his masterpiece - "Master and Margarita." It was slowly evolving from the series of chapters, initially titled "The Black Magician" in 1929. That was changed to "The Prince of Darkness" in 1930. Then it was changed again to "The Great Chancellor" in 1934. Finally, the novel was titled as "Master and Margarita" in 1934 and was rewritten and updated constantly until the writer's death in 1940.
While writing the novel, Bulgakov met Elena Sergeevna Shilovskaya, who became his wife. She was, in part, the model for Margarita in the novel. Secret service agents were spying on Bulgakov and learned about his new novel. Bulgakov was interrogated again and was ordered to destroy the manuscript under the threat from the government agents. He had to be very cautious. Bulgakov split the manuscript in two parts and destroyed one half in a fire.
Soon, he restored the missing part from memory and continued writing the novel. He was writing the novel in secrecy, hiding its manuscript for many years until his death in 1940. The main character in the novel, Voland, alludes to Stalin, or Beria, or any dictator who plays a semi-god. Voland was modeled after Satan in "Faust" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The novel has many parallels with the Bible and the "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. The characters and events in "Master and Margarita" are alluding to Bulgakov's experiences in Moscow under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin.
Five days before his death, Bulgakov accepted an unusual promise from his loving wife. She swore to live a humble life and wait as long as it would take for Bulgakov's masterpiece to be published. The original manuscript of "The Master and Margarita" was preserved by Bulgakov's wife, Elena Sergeevna, until its first publication in 1966. It is a Menippean satire, a cross-genre comedy, drama, and fantasy, regarded by many as the best of the 20th century Russian novels.
Mikhail Bulgakov died of a kidney failure, on March 10, 1940, in Moscow. He was laid to rest in the Novodevichy Monastery Cemetery, next to other Russian cultural luminaries. - Actress
- Writer
Mrs. Patrick Campbell was born on 9 February 1865 in Kensington, London, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Crime and Punishment (1935), Riptide (1934) and One More River (1934). She was married to George Cornwallis-West and Patrick Campbell. She died on 9 April 1940 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.- Actress
- Soundtrack
La Jana was the stage name of the brunette Viennese-born actress and exotic dancer Henriette 'Henny' Hiebel. She was trained as a ballerina for ten years and first performed at the Frankfurt Kinderoper at the age of eight. Of boyishly slim build, she appeared on stage in cabaret in 1921. Soon after, she was reputedly discovered for the screen by the director Géza von Cziffra at the Chat Noir cabaret in Paris. She received good publicity from a successful tour of Britain, during which the press alternately touted her as being Spanish or Hungarian. The build-up continued with glamour photographs for Vogue magazine. Movies followed and La Jana hit the big time with Truxa (1937) (dancing on a giant tambourine) and The Stars Shine (1938). Propelled to instant stardom, she came to represent oriental or Latin mystery and allure as the scantily-clad heroines of The Tiger of Eschnapur (1938), Das indische Grabmal (1938) (as the high priestess of a cult) and Stern von Rio (1940).
Her life ended tragically young at the very peak of her popularity. She died of pneumonia at the age of 35, a fact which rather cemented her cult status. Since she left few personal notes, little of La Jana's life is known. This has given life to unverified rumours and scuttlebutt. One fanciful story has it that she aided in the escape from Nazi Germany of Jewish acting colleagues and was consequently murdered by the SS.
La Jana was married to the opera star Michael Bohnen and was said to have previously been romantically involved with Wilhelm, the last Crown Prince of the former German Empire.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Donald Calthrop was born on 11 April 1888 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Blackmail (1929), The Man Who Lived Again (1936) and The Phantom Light (1935). He was married to Margaret Helen Ledward. He died on 15 July 1940 in London, England, UK.- Actor
- Additional Crew
William Law was born on 22 June 1896 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for After the Thin Man (1936) and The Good Earth (1937). He died on 8 February 1940 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Actor
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William V. Mong was born on 25 June 1875 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Fighting Joe (1916), The Chosen Prince, or the Friendship of David and Jonathan (1917) and Lost in the Arctic (1911). He was married to Esme Isabel Haigh Warde, Mildred Ellen Payne and Marie Louise Kelley. He died on 10 December 1940 in Studio City, California, USA.- Actor
- Make-Up Department
The son of a minister from Ohio, Charles Stanton Ogle became a prolific character actor from stage and screen. Mostly cast in commanding roles in silents. Per haps most memorable as the screen's very first Frankenstein monster in Thomas Alva Edison's silent version Frankenstein (1910).- Quit acting career during World War I, to outfit & staff a barge as a floating hospital, to nurse wounded soldiers in France. Boyfriends as a young actress included Baseball Hall of Famer John Montgomery Ward & heavyweight champ/actor Gentleman James J. Corbett. Elliott was named as co-respondent in Ward's divorce from famed actress Helen Dauvray. For her beauty & unusual violet eyes, Maxine Elliott has been compared to Elizabeth Taylor. For many years, there was a Maxine Elliott Theatre on Broadway.
She met husband Nat C. Goodwin, the leading comic actor of his era, en route to Australia in 1896. Goodwin was a dedicated baseball fan/gambler, and the stage idol of George M. Cohan. - Director
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American director of French-Dutch ancestry, born in Paris. He studied the fine arts in Paris before resettling in America. As a set designer for stage productions, he was able to break into films in 1908 doing the same work. He dabbled in screen writing and then began directing, at first sporadically, in 1914. He soon became recognized as a talent and developed a name for himself as a specialist in romantic dramas. His career lasted more than thirty-five years. Although his films include such well-known works as The Son of the Sheik (1926), Raffles (1930), and Mata Hari (1931), he never quite reached the upper reaches of his profession, but was always considered a reliable and occasionally innovative workman.- A veteran stage and screen actor, Swickard was the brother of actor Charles Swickard. He entered films in 1912 and was playing supporting roles for Mack Sennett by 1914. He remained with Sennett until 1917 when he started numerous aristocratic roles in films. His career in sound films was somewhat limited and he played in low-budget and action serial type films. In 1939, his ex-wife, Broadway actress Margaret Campbell, was brutally murdered by their son. Swickard died a year later from natural causes, not, by jumping from the Hollywood sign as several accounts state.
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In the 1910s, waifs and child-women like Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish and Mary Miles Minter were dominant forces at America's box offices. Audiences welcomed Marguerite Clark into this group, especially those who preferred her dark brown hair and large brown eyes to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed looks of Pickford, Gish and Minter. She was tiny (about 4'10", weighing about 90 pounds) with a very pretty, Kewpie-doll face that never seemed to age. Even at the end of her career, at the age of 38, make-up artists had little trouble making her look 12 years old. Marguerite began life on a farm southeast of Lima, Ohio. As a child she was sent to a convent southeast of Cincinnati for her education, remaining there until the age of 16, when she made her stage debut with a stock company in Baltimore. DeWolf Hopper Sr. saw her and brought her to New York as his co-star in the play "Happyland". For over a decade she appeared in some of the most popular plays and musicals on Broadway, including "Anatol" with John Barrymore. In 1914 she signed with Famous Players, which, along with its sister companies Paramount and Artcraft, would produce all but her last movie. Her looks and acting talent quickly made her one of the top movie stars of the time. However, she was dissatisfied with the acting life. In 1918 she married a New Orleans plantation owner and took up residence there. She split her time between New York (where she made most of her movies) and New Orleans, all the time planning to quit acting and move permanently to the plantation. Her only wish was to go out on top. In 1921 she got her wish. The annual Quigley Publications poll of motion picture exhibitors ranked her as the nation's top movie actress of 1920, and the second-place movie star overall to Wallace Reid. She had just completed Scrambled Wives (1921), produced by her own newly formed production company, for First National. After the release of the Quigley poll, she disbanded her production company and retired to her husband's plantation, where she lived until his death in 1936. She moved back to New York City shortly thereafter. She was also the model for Snow White in Walt Disney's masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). She died following a short bout with pneumonia in 1940.- Writer
- Actress
Dorothy Mackaye was born on 8 May 1899 in Denver, Colorado, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for Ladies They Talk About (1933) and Lady Gangster (1942). She was married to Paul Kelly and Ray Raymond. She died on 5 January 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Jolly, bald, over-weight comedian John E. Brennan born in Massachusetts in 1865. Became popular on vaudeville in the 1890's. One of the most well-known silent comedy stars of the early 1910's, began his film career with the Kalem Film Company in 1912 when he starred in 'The Pasadena Peach' he was often teamed with actress Ruth Roland until 1915. moved briefly to Fine Arts Film Co in 1916 then retired from the screen, made at least two movie comebacks in 1920 his last being the lead role as Robert Holmes in 'The Hidden Light' with Dolores Cassinelli, afterwards he was not seen on film again, John died from a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1940 age 75.
- Born as Nathan Weinstein, the only son of a wealthy Manhattan real estate developer, West grew up as an overly spoiled child, largely burdened by the belief that he shouldn't be expected to work or show up on time or in any other way trouble himself to get by in the world. The Depression did a lot to revise this attitude. There is abundant evidence as to the domineering nature of his Russian Jewish mother in his novels along with sexual ambiguity (although he seems to have favored female prostitutes, given his numerous bouts with gonorrhea). As a child, West was enthralled by Russian novels and decided to pursue a career as an author. To West, a literary career presupposed a life in Paris, the 1920's intellectual Mecca, hanging out with the likes of Joyce and Fitzgerald, but the 4-month trip was largely spent engaging in sexual debauchery while attempting to pass himself off as a literary flaneur. Upon his return to New York, West failed miserably at writing, his short stories were continually rejected by magazines, his first novel had minuscule run of 500 copies (sales of his critically well-reviewed second novel, "Miss Lonelyhearts" suffered when the publisher went bankrupt), a play with his brother in law S.J. Perelman went unproduced and he sought out a career in Hollywood, where he became a pot boiler screenwriter and script doctor. Hollywood provided the financial stability his novels hadn't and a work structure that encouraged productivity. As a novelist, West was decades ahead of the public norm. His characters were the antithesis of anything drawn by Horatio Alger, filled with the grotesque themes. Indeed, West made it his conscious goal to be unlike anyone else and to be ahead of his time. He married 27-year old Eileen McKenney (the "Eileen" in "My Sister Eileen") in early 1940 and the couple were killed in a car accident--- West was a terrible driver, blowing through a red light at an intersection in El Centro, California, while returning from a hunting trip that had been overshadowed by the death of their friend F. Scott Fitzgerald.
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The youngest of three sons, he was born in Norfolk, Ontario, Canada and was educated at McGill University then In 1904 he moved to New York where he appeared in a number of plays on Broadway including The Blue Grass Handicap, The Superstition of Sue and successful The Chorus Lady after which he was invited by D.W. Griffith to join Biograph Studios where he made his film debut in The Greaser's Gauntlet (1908) followed by some 50 other films. Then, in 1910, he wrote his first film script, Sunshine Sue (1910), which was followed by many more. In 1912, he turned to directing with An Outcast Among Outcasts (1912) with a further 40 or so in the next 20 years. Acting wasn't neglected, with his appearing in Griffith's classic Intolerance (1916). Mack Sennett hired him to direct and star in a number of films at his Keystone Studios. He made the successful transition from silents to sound and frequently returned to his roots on Broadway. He married twice, first to actress Alice Louise Perine in October 1898 and had two children After their divorce and while working at Biograph Studios, he met and married actress/screenwriter Bess Meredyth (1890-1969) with whom he had a son.- Neville Chamberlain was born on 18 March 1869 in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, UK. He was married to Anne de Vere Cole. He died on 9 November 1940 in Heckfield, Hampshire, England, UK.
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Balding, worried-looking character actor of the 1930's who had a strong line in lawyers, judges, sheriffs, mayors and storekeepers. He was especially effective at playing choleric or obtuse. Bates had a career in dramatic plays on Broadway spanning the years from 1925 to 1935. He began in films with Essanay in 1917. His performance in The Great Man Votes (1939), as a corrupt, incompetent mayor, was particularly noteworthy. His best role, however -- occurring well towards the end of his life -- was as the bewildered judge in My Favorite Wife (1940). Bosley Crowther (May 31) considered this a 'masterpiece of comic creation'. That same year, Bates stood out in the otherwise forgettable Men Against the Sky (1940). He died soon afterward of a heart attack.
Bates was a member of the Lambs Club in New York, America's most venerable theatrical organisation.- Gunnar Tolnæs was a trained actor with an extensive career on the stage, including Nationalteatret in Oslo. Made his film debut in Swedish films working with Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. Came to Denmark in 1915 and worked exclusively for Nordisk Film, where he soon became their biggest attraction after Valdemar Psilander left the studio in 1916. A favorite with the ladies the tall, stately Norwegian with the slumbering eyes thrilled audiences playing men of authority especially maharajahs in a string of dramas. However, having made a fortune and growing tired of 'sheik films',as he called them, he retired early.
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Edward LeSaint was born on 13 December 1870 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Modern Times (1936), Merely Mary Ann (1920) and Only a Shop Girl (1922). He was married to Stella Razeto. He died on 10 September 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Communist leader. He was chief theorist, a leader in both the 1905 and 1917 Russian Revolutions alongside Vladimir Lenin. As commissar for foreign affairs, Trotsky arranged the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany. He next became head of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, which resulted in the deaths of over a million White Army soldiers and Cossacks, upon orders from Vladimir Lenin. He had Russian peasants and workers forcibly conscripted into the Red Army, but he proved to be a poor military leader and the Russian invasion of Poland in the 1920s was repulsed by Polish forces under Marshal Józef Pilsudski, with very heavy Russian losses. Trotsky and his arch-rival Joseph Stalin struggled for power after Lenin's death in 1924. Stalin eventually stripped Trotsky of his influence by 1929, and expelled him from Russia in 1936. Trotsky spent the rest of his life in exile, living in the home of Mexican communist artist Diego Rivera in Mexico. There he was writing and preaching revolution, until he was assassinated by Spanish communist Ramon Mercader, an assassin sent to kill Trotsky by Stalin, in 1940.
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Starting his show-business career as a singer and acrobat in French music halls, Deed got in almost at the ground floor of the French film industry, making his debut in 1905. It didn't take him long to become one of France's first major comic film stars, and he soon became internationally famous. Unfortunately, his popularity started to wane by 1915, and his screen appearances became less frequent; he made his last film in 1928. Sadly, he died ten years later, broke and forgotten by the industry that he helped to launch.- Maude appeared in a number of Broadway productions from 1908 1925 including: "Glorious Betsy," "The American Maid," "A Full House" with Hugh Cameron and Ralph Morgan, "Elsie" and "Big Boy" with Al Jolson, Minnie Dupree and Colin Campbell. She also appeared on the stage with Marilyn Miller in her smash hit, "Sally." In addition, Maude appeared on stage in "Mrs. Holmes, Detective" which was produced by her own company. Maude's daughter Dorothy graduated from the Fauquier Institute of Warrenton, Virginia and later married to Lieut. Robert A. White of the U.S. Navy. Gordon died from pneumonia.
- George C. Pearce was born on 26 June 1865 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for British Agent (1934), Black Beauty (1921) and Vengeance (1930). He was married to Helen Bray. He died on 13 August 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Charles Richman was born on 12 January 1865 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Man from Home (1914), The Battle Cry of Peace (1915) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938). He was married to Jane Grey. He died on 1 December 1940 in The Bronx, New York, USA.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Mary Wong was born on 11 March 1910 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Good Earth (1937). She died on 15 July 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Helene Chadwick came from a very wealthy family in upstate New York (the town, Chadwick, was named after them), where her father owned a silk mill and her mother was an opera singer. On a visit to New York she was persuaded by an artist friend to pose for one of his paintings. A film producer saw the work, and after contacting Helene discovered that she was an experienced horsewoman, which is what he needed for a film he was shooting. He asked her if she'd be interested, she was, and soon she found herself making her film debut in The Challenge (1916) for Pathe. After a few more films she signed a contract with Goldwyn Pictures. She had a career of more than 20 years in the film industry, her last picture being A Star Is Born (1937), directed by her former husband, William A. Wellman, in which she had an uncredited bit part as a woman at a film preview. Tragically, she died in Los Angeles in 1940 from injuries she received in a fall. She was only 42 years old.
- George Periolat was born on 5 February 1874 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Red Lily (1924), Samson (1914) and The New Adventures of Terence O'Rourke (1915). He died on 20 February 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Gene Morgan was born on 12 March 1892 in Racine, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Tangled Destinies (1932), Blonde Venus (1932) and Anybody's Blonde (1931). He was married to Rachel Laretta Hart. He died on 15 August 1940 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
- Gordon Morris was born on 6 November 1898 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Important Witness (1933), 6 Hours to Live (1932) and Cross Streets (1934). He was married to Helen Nichols. He died on 7 April 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Adrienne Morrison was born on 1 March 1883 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Damaged Goods (1914), The Valley of Decision (1916) and And the Law Says (1916). She was married to Eric Pinker and Richard Bennett. She died on 20 November 1940 in New York City, New York, USA.
- John Buchan was born on 26 August 1875 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, UK. He was a writer, known for The 39 Steps (1935), Thirty Nine Steps and The 39 Steps. He was married to Susan Charlotte Grosvenor. He died on 11 February 1940 in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
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Lagerlöf made her debut in 1891 with The Gösta Berling saga, a story about her own region, Värmland and her home, the country manor Mårbacka. With her novel she starts the wave of romantic nationalist literature in Sweden of the 1890s. Her novel Jerusalem (1901-02) is about religious emigrants from Sweden to Palestine. She is the author of Sweden's most read novel, The Adventures of Nils Holgerssons (1906), a story about a boy traveling across Sweden on the back of a goose. Her stories often evolve around folklore and supernatural events. One of the peaks in her career was her novel The Emperor of Portugal (1914). In 1907 she got a honorary degree at the University of Uppsala, in 1909 she got the Nobel Prize and 1914 she became a member of the Swedish Academy. Her home Mårbacka is now a museum visited by thousands of tourists every year.- Director
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Married petite actress Mary Akin when she was just 17 and he was 38. He was already married once - in 1905 but the records of that union are lost - and divorced. Carewe and Akin had two children during their first marriage, daughter Sally Ann (b. 1925) and son William (b. 1927). A third child with Mary, Carol Lee (b. 1932), happened during their second marriage.- Soundtrack
Effie I. Canning was born in 1857 in Rockland, Maine, USA. Effie I. was married to Harry J. Carlton. Effie I. died on 7 January 1940 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.- María Fernanda Ibáñez was born on 15 January 1920 in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. She was an actress, known for La madrina del diablo (1937), Dos cadetes (1938) and These Men (1937). She died on 17 October 1940 in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.
- Eugenie Forde was born on 22 June 1879 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Cameo Kirby (1923), The Courtesan (1916) and Fair Enough (1918). She was married to Guy H. Fetters. She died on 5 September 1940 in Van Nuys, California, USA.
- Brother of actor Pedro Regas, George was a stage actor in Athens before coming to the U.S. as "Romeo" in a Grecian version of "Romeo and Juliet", which he performed in New York. Regas played character parts in numerous films, many of them uncredited. Regas often played Latinos, Native Americans or Italians.
- Lee Willard was born on 13 June 1873 in Peoria, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Flame Fighter (1925), Sophie's Fatal Wedding (1914) and The Calling of Jim Barton (1914). He died on 9 December 1940 in San Francisco, California, USA.
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- Soundtrack
Philip Wood was born on 21 July 1895 in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Our Town (1940) and Room Service (1938). He died on 3 March 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Carlton Griffin was born on 23 May 1893 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Great Jewel Robbery (1925), The Painted Flapper (1924) and Girl Shy (1924). He was married to Verna Irene Bell and Pauline Saxon. He died on 24 July 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Ivan Linow was born on 21 November 1888 in Latvia. He was an actor, known for The Unholy Three (1930), The Song of the Flame (1930) and The Silver Horde (1930). He died on 21 November 1940 in London, England, UK.
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Himanshu Rai (1892 - 16 May 1940), one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, is best known as one of the founders of the studio in 1934, along with Rajnarayan Dube and Devika Rani. He was associated with a number of movies, including Goddess (1922), The Light of Asia (1925), Shiraz (1928), A Throw of Dice (1929) and Karma (1933). He was married to actress Devika Rani Chaudhuri (1908-1994).
Born into an aristocratic Bengali family, he spent several years in Santiniketan for his schooling. After obtaining a law-degree from Kolkata, he went to London to become a barrister. There, he met a playwright and screenwriter Niranjan Pal.
That association led to the making of a film, The Light of Asia, which he co-directed with Franz Osten. Rai was also one of the main actors in this film. While making his third film, Prapancha Pash, he met and fell in love with Devika Rani, a great-grandniece of the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Before this film was complete, he married her.
By 1932, London return flop Actor Himanshu Rai was back in India after having been exposed to film making in Europe. As he was unsuccessful as an actor in Europe, his ambition was to bring these new cultural phenomena to the Indian people. This must have been harder than you think, because Himanshu Rai struggled to get this idea off the ground, primarily because of the money involved. He was meeting many people and trying to convince them about the magic of cinema but the effort was proving unsuccessful. He had the complete support of people such as F.E Dinshaw, Sir Feroze Sethna among others but they could not help him when it came to the crucial aspect of financing.
The Bombay Talkies Studios' story is full of magic and color. In the '30s, the movie business was supposed to be a 'dirty business'. People would talk about movies, but many wouldn't even consider going to watch one. This would be similar to people talking about gold prices but seldom buying it. Even though movies did make people curious, its reputation as a professional field was bad. There seemed to be a lack of respect for the profession because it was being considered the domain of undesirable sections of the then Indian society. Due to this lack of respect and understanding for the profession, financiers during those times would face an impossible challenge when it came to getting returns on their investment.
It was during this hunt for financiers that Himanshu Rai came in contact with Abhimanyu Prasad Singh, a close friend of Seth Badriprasad Dube, who was a well-known financier. He introduced Himanshu Rai, a London return actor/ theatre artist to Seth Badriprasad Dube with a dream of making a cinema company but Seth Badriprasad declined the proposal of funding Himanshu Rai because Seth Badriprasad had once financed the first Indian Talkie film Alam Ara which didn't earn him any profit and he made an opinion that only actors and directors get fame but the financier doesn't get profits. During that era, the film business was not considered money earning business. It was more about the passion for cinema and getting fame. Because of this fact, Seth Badriprasad Dube declined the proposal of financing Himanshu Rai.
Abhimanyu Singh spoke next to Seth Badriprasad's son Shri. Rajnarayan Dube. He was a young and dynamic businessman who operated a successful company called Dube Industries, which he had founded in 1929. Shri. Dube was born on 10th October 1910 at Kalighat in Kolkata and was an ardent devotee of Maa Kali. He was influenced by the power of art and creativity at a young age. Both men met at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba, Mumbai (Bombay), and discussed an initial investment amount of Rs. 25 lakhs. However, Himanshu Rai couldn't convince Rajnarayan Dube to invest the amount because of the dismal returns on investment that the Indian movie industry offered. At this point, it would seem that Bombay Talkies would never come to be, but things have a way of working out in unexpected ways.
A few months passed by and Himanshu Rai had grown increasingly despondent because it was becoming impossible to raise investment for his movie company. In his depression, the man attempted suicide but was unsuccessful. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube got wind of this through Abhimanyu Prasad Singh and wondered about this man, one who so completely and wholeheartedly believed in the power of cinema and talking pictures that he did not see fit to continue living if he couldn't follow his dreams. Rajnarayan Dube decided that Himanshu Rai was onto something here and finalized the investment with him soon after. In doing this, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube went deliberately against the advice of his father, Seth Badriprasad Dube, who felt that this would not be a good investment choice. In doing this, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube gave birth to the Indian Film Industry, which has now gone on to become a huge cultural and financial force in the country.
At the very nascent age of the cinema Rajnarayan Dube's Bombay Talkies was born in India when other contemporary film companies of the world such as Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures were born and brought up to create cinematic magic for the world audience, but Bombay Talkies (under the command of Girish Ghanshyam Dube), is the only premier film company which has made a charismatic comeback and repeating its old pride and glory after sixty-three years of utter darkness.
Cinematic Giant and Pillar of Indian Cinema, Rajnarayan Dube founded the Legendary Film Company, The Bombay Talkies Studios along with its associate companies Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures as individual proprietorship companies. At the same time to add more people, he established the first public limited film company of India The Bombay Talkies Limited (ltd.) in 1934, although all companies were commonly known as Bombay Talkies. As Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani were actors they were given some shares of the company as their remuneration. Some films were produced under the banner of The Bombay Talkies Limited also, but most of the films were produced under The Bombay Talkies Studios and Bombay Talkies Pictures. The Bombay Talkies Studios also successfully Distributed, Processed, and Promoted films of other producers and banners other than their own films. All the films were financed by Rajnarayan Dube in his individual capacity as the owner of his proprietorship finance company Dube Industries (Estd. 1929).
On 15 April, 1934, Bombay Talkies began operations. The movie company was named by Shri. Dube's mother, Smt. Gayatri Devi. Though Light of Asia and Karma a concept which Himanshu Rai built during his days in Europe, it was released in 1925 and 1933 respectively. As the release went unnoticed, Rajnarayan Dube re-released them and the first films to come out of the stables were Light of Asia (Prem Sanyas) and Karma in 1934. It was followed by Jawani ki Hawa, Achhut Kanya and Jeevan Naiya. The movie company-operated along with the principle of keeping the creative aspects and business aspects separate. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube would look into the business end of things and both Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani would immerse themselves in the creative pursuit. This approach gave rise to some of the most technically impressive films seen this side of the planet. The technical prowess was due to the movie studio employing German and other European technicians, prominent among them being Franz Osten.
In his book, Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema, Late. KM Srivastava mentioned that Rajnarayan Dube's Bombay Talkies was single-handedly responsible for making the careers of some of the leading talents in the golden age of Indian cinema. Besides Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, the company gave the world Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Madhubala (who began as a child artist and was given her stage name by Rajnarayan Dube himself, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Leela Chitnis, David Abraham Cheulkar, Phani Majumdar, Gyan Mukherjee, K.A. Abbas, Saadat Hasan Manto, Nabendu Ghosh, Hansa Wadkar, Uttam Kumar, Kedar Sharma, Gemini Ganesan, P.L. Santoshi, Shakti Samanta, Niranjan Pal, Pt. Narendra Sharma, Kishor Sahu, P. Jairaj, Asit Sen, Mumtaj Ali, Nalini Jaywant, Kamini Kaushal, Snehprabha, Joseph Wirsching, Kanan Devi, Famous Bengali Novelist Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Shaheed Lateef, Sita Devi, Abhi Bhattacharya, R.D. Mathur, Aghajani Kashmiri, Kamal Bose, Pran, Usha Kiran, Renuka Devi, Great Writer Munshi Premchand (Written 2 Films for Bombay Talkies), Mukri, Bhagwati Charan Verma, Mehmood, Kishore Kumar, Kamal Amrohi, Guru Dutt, Suraiya, Bimal Roy, Nitin Bose, Salil Chowdhary, Kavi Pradeep, Franz Osten, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Sashadhar Mukherjee, Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, Satyajit Ray, Amiya Chakravarti, S. D. Burman, Manna Dey, Saraswati Devi (who was the first woman music director of Asia). All in all, Bombay Talkies gave the world 280 of the most talented movie professionals in the last century.
Under the command of Rajnarayan Dube, Bombay Talkies had Produced 115 films like Achhut Kannya, Kismet, Bandhan, Mahal, Jhoola, Jeevan Naiya, Neel Kamal, Baadbaan, Daag, Majboor, Drishtidan (Bengali), Izzat, Prem Kahani, Punarmilan, Aawaz, Pratima, Raj Mahal, Apnapan, Anyaya, Roti, Farar, Ziddi, Mashal, Azad, Jwar Bhata, Basant, Sangram, Patita, Bhabi (1938), Durga, Kala Patthar, Indian Lady, Jeevan Prabhat, HamariBaat, Anand, Aurangzeb, Bemisaal, Mamta, Sipahi, Milan, Naya Sansar, Anjaan, Adalat, Aandolan, Zindagi, Zamindar, Kanjoos, Ravan, Raja Rani, Phaansi, Kasam, Parakh, Dhobi Doctor, Deewana, Darpan, Dr. Kumar, Maa, Khamosh, Nauka Doobi, Talaq, Zakhmi, Maharaja, Nirmala, Vilayati Babu, Dushman, Khandani, Puraskar, Tawaif, Asha, Aandhi, Sadma, Anaath, Loafer, Muqaddar, Prem Kahani, Vachan, Lahore to Calcutta, Navjeevan, Ramdhari B.A., Saudagar, Ghajini, Hero, Sawa Lakh, Pratima, Bulandi, Char Aankhen, Chanakya, Nakli Heera, Lahore, Rail Ka Dibba, Dost, Chhoti Si Duniya, Cinema and many more.
While Himanshu Rai's original vision for a movie production house sowed the seeds for the formation of Indian cinema as an industry, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube single-handedly architected the business angle of the entire industry which was yet to come. He supported various new theatres such as BN Sircar's New Theatres in Calcutta, V Shantaram's Prabhat Pictures, Homi Wadia's Wadia Movietone, Sohrab Modi's Minerva Movietone, LV Prasad's Prasad Labs and Pictures (Prasad was an ex-technician from Bombay Talkies), SS Vasan's Gemini Pictures and Mehboob Khan's theatres, Tarachand Barjatya's Rajshri Productions (Barjatya served as a distribution manager for Bombay Talkies for the period of seven years), Sashadhar Mukherjee's (Filmalaya Studio). Shri. Dube financed these fledgling companies and made them stronger. In essence, he builds the entire movie ecosystem in the country. Everyone whom Shri. Dube supported, went on to build a name for themselves in the industry.
Shri. Rajnarayan Dube had a big vision for Indian Cinema. He wanted Indian film making to be a respectable profession. He thus stipulated that Bombay Talkies would only hire graduates. He hoped this move would legitimize the Indian film industry of the thirties and forties, and it certainly did. Besides this, Shri. Dube also wanted the Indian film industry to be inclusive of Indians from all states and sectors of life. Even though the movie company worked with European technicians, Shri. Dube would bring on Indian technicians and make sure that they learned the art of movie-making. He also brought a lot of Indian writers on-board so that movies could have an Indian cultural sensitivity and thus could appeal to a large number of people. This move gave rise to a whole new Indian profession, movie making! This seemed to be a good move in the light of circumstances that were yet to arrive.
During one scene in the movie Karma, there was a minute-long kissing scene between Himanshu Rai & Devika Rani onscreen. During the re-release, some extra controversial scenes were shot at that time for the sake of sensational purpose. This caused quite a stir in Indian society then Seth Badriprasad Dube's father of Shri. Rajnarayan Dube was furious about the scene. Himanshu Rai apologized and held his ears' and said that it would not happen again. After that incident, Shri. Dube however, resolved to screen all films by himself before they could be released. He was a Brahmin and a conservative and strictly discouraged smoking, drinking and other vices in the studio premises. He was also a very caring employer for those pioneering people who worked at Bombay Talkies. He made sure that Education, Rent, Food, and other daily necessities were provided free of cost to employees of Bombay Talkies. He also championed the rights of the movie industry by setting up Unions and Associations such as IMPPA (of which Bombay Talkies was the first member) Several people along with Rajnarayan Dube, Himanshu Rai, and Devika Rani were responsible for the formation of IMPPA. He also helped grow the regional film industry. He staunchly supported Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Gujarati and Southern cinema. If it wasn't for Shri. Dube, the Indian movie industry would have resembled other Southeast Asian movie industries from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Bollywood today is big enough to compete with Hollywood movies.
During the Second World War, Bombay Talkies was struggling. The war had made things very difficult in many ways. The company had several movies on the floor but they could not get them finished because the crucial German technicians had been arrested and detained by the British Government. At this point, 15-20 films were on the production floor and were stalled pretty badly. Himanshu Rai suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of this and passed away in 1940. Bombay Talkies had just lost its crucial co-founder on whose vision the entire company stood to be successful. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube decided that Rai's vision for Indian cinema would continue and he again invested four lakhs ten thousand rupees into the venture. This injected some much-needed blood into the company and a new era of Indian film making began. Shri. Dube decided that from that moment on, Bombay Talkies would only hire Indian technicians and production professionals.
In this second phase, the company boomed and went on to a very productive cinematic run. 1943 hit Kismet was getting rave reviews everywhere and managed to run in theatres for 3 and a half years in over 90% of the Indian theatres! By comparing the value of gold and land by today's standards, the movie made the equivalent of Rs. 40000 crores. Not one movie has broken this record in terms of business. By 1954, Bombay Talkies had put its name to a huge amount of work. It had produced 115 films, had introduced over 280 new talents, built 400 theatres across the country. With the historical grand success of Bombay Talkies, the legendary film company under the influence of Rajnarayan Dube had now processed more than 450 films of outside and likeminded producers and made more than 250 film projects for the new and needy producers. As the success of Bombay Talkies was going sky-high the clash of ego between the giants also started roaring high? The three companies which solely belongs to Rajnarayan Dube, The Bombay Talkies Studios, Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures were doing fine but the fourth company The Bombay Talkies Limited, which was established by him to include more people and more talents was becoming a platform to project nasty ego clashes of the directors and management of the company. Instead of being devoted to filmmaking and cinema they devoted their energy and talent for spreading rumours and objectionable stories. At this time Shri. Rajnarayan Dube decided that he and his company had arrived at the goal that they had set out to complete two decades earlier. Indian films were now a major force in terms of communication and entertainment in post-independence India. Shri. Dube shut down his sole proprietorship companies The Bombay Talkies Studios, Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures in 1954 so that he could pay more attention to other aspects of his business and continued to distribute and finance films. The fate of the limited company, The Bombay Talkies Limited, which was established to include more people and more talents, got entrapped in selfish motives and litigation. Since 1953, complicated legal battles have been going on in different courts till date. Among all odds and misfortune, of the past time Bombay Talkies became a dream only to be in memories, the artists and technicians, whom Bombay Talkies made living legends in their own lives, who became national and international personalities by virtue of their own right, became world famous. But there was no one to take notice of Bombay Talkies.
With the noble intention and the purpose of promotion, protection, and projection of ancient divine culture globally Girish Ghanshyam Dube Revived Bombay Talkies after six decades with full glory and pride. With the historical revival of the legendary Bombay talkies, Girish Ghanshyam Dube paid his heartfelt tribute to his grandfather, pillar of Indian Cinema Rajnarayan Dube along with Himanshu Rai, Devika Rani, and many great filmmakers, artists and technicians. Girish Ghanshyam Dube brought his idol, Chandrashekhar Azad, from the darkness of history and presented him for the first time in the larger than life manner. Rashtraputra first patriotic film based on the life and times of the greatest revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad was screened at the 72nd Cannes film festival, France. The international audience connected with the patriotic and nationalistic thoughts of the great son of mother India through Rashtraputra. After Rashtraputra Girish Ghanshyam Dube created and released the first mainstream Sanskrit film of the world Cinema, Aham Brahmasmi to promote, protect & project Devbhasha Sanskrit worldwide and to preach Bramhavakya of Vedas to every corner of the World.
Many film-makers followed Rajnarayan Dube as a fortune for them, like in his Book, 'Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema', Senior Most Journalist of India Late. KM Srivastava mentioned Prakash Mehra, one of the legendary filmmakers of India who got the first chance to direct a movie named, Haseena Maan Jayegi, starring Shashi Kapoor. The film got stuck because of lack of budget. Later, popular actor Shashi Kapoor advised him to acquaint with Shri. Rajnarayan Dube; "He is the person who will appreciate your talent and help you out from the issue". Rajnarayan Dube said yes to him and the film triumphed magnificently. The same incident happened with Prakash Mehra in the film Samadhi which was starred by Dharmendra. Rajnarayan Dube helped him and got a huge applause. Because of such incidents, Prakash Mehra followed Rajnarayan Dube as a deity and he was always thankful to him. Then he gave back to back hits like Zanjeer, Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri with the help of Rajnarayan Dube. After his establishment he didn't face financial trouble but still, he used to take one hundred and one rupees as goodwill from Rajnarayan Dube for his later hits like Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Laawaris, Jaadugar and many more.
Recently in an event, Mr. Chandra Shekhar Pusalkar Phalke, grandson of the father of Indian Cinema Dada Saheb Phalke said, "With the establishment and work culture of Bombay Talkies, Rajnarayan Dube has played a great historic role in nurturing and developing the Indian film industry. He gave it the form of an organised industry and made it be accepted as a respectful form of art by the civilised society." He further added, "Like Dada Saheb Phalke, Rajnarayan Dube also faced all kinds of conflicts and the result of his immense struggle is visible like a World Heritage Site in the form of Bombay Talkies today. He strongly affirmed, If Mr. Rajnarayan Dube was not there, there would be no Himanshu Rai, neither Devika Rani nor there would be Bombay Talkies."
Numerous people have written books about Bombay Talkies and Rajnarayan Dube like Multiple editions of a book written by Mohammad Zahid Ahmed titled as The Man Behind Indian Cinema, which was launched in The United States of America on 19th June 2016. The last edition of the book mentions that The truth behind "The Bombay Talkies ltd" and commercial Indian cinema lies beneath the biography of Mr. Rajnarayan Dube. The novels unfold the truth of Indian cinema and the history that people made without any substantial evidence. Many news reports and media tries to recreate the fact about Indian cinema.
History witnessed the success and fall of the pillar of Indian cinema and the disasters of broken fire in the Bombay talkies studio campus many times. Negatives, important documents along with props and properties of filmmaking got burned and became ashes. Multiple researches were done on Indian Cinema and Bombay Talkies, numerous books were read on Bombay Talkies, only information on released films were obtained but no vital information could be gathered. Every book mentioned contradictory information on Bombay Talkies, only a few names were mentioned related to Bombay Talkies and its foundation. From the very ashes of history the senior most and respected film journalist K M Srivastava recollected the truths and facts of Bombay Talkies. K M Srivastava's career spanning fifty years, he has done a great service to the students of cinema by researching Bombay Talkies. K M Srivastava has disclosed nearly each and every aspect of Bombay Talkies in his historical book Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema, that how London return flop Actor Himanshu Rai got to finance his films, how he met Rajnarayan dube and how the actors and actresses of that time rose to glory. All the needful information was available in this book. The book is now the authentic prime source of inspiration, information and knowledge about Bombay talkies and that magnificent era. K M Srivastava's work contains more authentic information than any other source available. K M Srivastava documented nearly everything in detail in his research book on Bombay talkies. He has interviewed most of the legends who were associated with Bombay talkies. He was the eye-witness of most of the events along with his fellow journalists. The intense and comprehensive research book Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema - 3rd Edition written by senior journalist K M Srivastava was released by Chandrashekhar Pusalkar Phalke, the grandson of father of Indian cinema Dada Sahab Phalke on On 19 May 2018.
In his 52 years long career, It is the third time that senior most Journalist Of Indian Cinema , K M Srivastava wrote Bombay Talkies History in the book, Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema.
The event was organized by Manika Sanstha. The guests and speakers of the event were senior editor of Madhuri Magazine, Sudeep, Rashtriya Sahara editor, senior journalist and narrator Harish Pathak, senior film actors Surendra Pal, Gajendra Chauhan and actress Asema Bhatt. The program was conducted by Devmani Pandey and incorporated by Amar Tripathi. A large number of friends of the literary world were present on the occasion. Chief Guest at the book launch event, Mr. Chandrashekhar Pusalkar Phalke, grandson of the father of Indian Cinema Dada Sahab Phalke said, "With the establishment and work culture of Bombay Talkies, Rajnarayan Dube has played a great historic role in nurturing and developing Indian film industry. He gave it the form of an organised industry and made it to be accepted as a respectful form of art by the civilised society." He further added, "Like Dada Sahab Phalke, Rajnarayan Dube also faced all kinds of conflicts and the result of his immense struggle is visible like a World Heritage Site in the form of Bombay Talkies today. He strongly affirmed, If Mr. Rajnarayan Dube was not there, there would be no Himanshu Rai, neither Devika Rani nor there would be Bombay Talkies."
The detailed history on Bombay Talkies and Indian cinema, can be found in the Books, The Man behind Indian Cinema by Mohammad Zahid Ahmed and Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema by KM Srivastava.- Earl Askam was born on 10 May 1891 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor, known for Flash Gordon (1936), Madam Satan (1930) and Red River Range (1938). He was married to Wally Ella. He died on 3 April 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- E. Alyn Warren was born on 2 June 1874 in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Red Wine (1928), They Won't Forget (1937) and Son of the Gods (1930). He died on 22 January 1940 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
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- Producer
Gus Meins was born on 6 March 1893 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Kelly the Second (1936), Earl of Puddlestone (1940) and His Exciting Night (1938). He was married to Mary Berge Lewis. He died on 1 August 1940 in La Crescenta, California, USA.- Grace Goodall was born on 12 June 1889 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for California Straight Ahead! (1937), Moonlight and Honeysuckle (1921) and Defying Destiny (1923). She died on 27 September 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Character actor S.S. Simon--not to be confused with director S. Sylvan Simon, who occasionally went by the name S.S. Simon--was born in Sacramento, CA, in 1864. His parents were vaudeville actors, and as a child they used him in their act on a cross-country tour. As a teenager he left vaudeville and joined a circus and later joined the troupe of well-known actors Lawrence Barrett and Edwin Booth.
He left acting in the 1890s and enrolled in the Colorado School of Mines, where he learned the finer points of prospecting for oil. Upon leaving the school he headed for Death Valley, CA, to try his hand at oil prospecting. He hit a gusher there, and continued that winning streak at other sites throughout the state. When the oil boom hit Kern County (CA), he set up several oil companies to prospect there, and hit even more gushers.
When he turned 40 he sold his mine for $2 million, and spent the next year traveling around the world with his wife. Upon his return to the US, however, he discovered that the Taft administration had come to the conclusion that smaller oil companies hadn't been developing their holdings quickly enough, and canceled their oil leases. The government paid him for what he lost, but it wasn't anywhere near what he would have made if his leases hadn't been canceled. He embarked on another prospecting expedition, but this time with no luck. When he decided that Monterey County, CA, was the site where the next big oil strike would be made, he spent most of his money buying and developing fields there, but nothing panned out. He sold his businesses--including a cannery, a fleet of fishing boats and some factories--to raise money for the big strike he knew would come, but it never happened. By the mid-'20s he was flat broke.
Down but not out, he returned to an industry where he thought he could make at least enough money to survive on--Hollywood. He started getting jobs in "B" pictures--including a lot of westerns--as a bartender, townsman, homesteader and the like. In 1934 he appears to have landed a contract with Columbia, and appeared in many of their films.
He died in April of 1940 in Hollywood. - Lila Leslie was born on 1 January 1890 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She was an actress, known for What's to Do? (1933), The Third Degree (1913) and A Little Brother of the Rich (1919). She was married to Joseph W. Smiley. She died on 8 September 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Leonard Trainor was born on 24 February 1879 in Tahlequah, Indian Territory, USA [now Oklahoma, USA]. He was an actor, known for Water Rustlers (1939), The Fighting Stallion (1926) and The Galloping Jinx (1925). He was married to Eva. He died on 28 July 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Edna Pendleton was born on 6 June 1887 in Montana, USA. She was an actress, known for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916), The Curious Conduct of Judge Legarde (1915) and The Girl I Left Behind Me (1915). She was married to Johnny Powers. She died on 21 August 1940 in Seattle, Washington, USA.
- Actor
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Ralph Arthur Roberts was born on 2 October 1884 in Meerane, Saxony, Germany. He was an actor and writer, known for Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Playing with Fire (1934) and Die Buddenbrooks (1923). He died on 12 March 1940 in Berlin, Germany.- William Royle was born on 22 March 1887 in Rochester, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Drums of Fu Manchu (1940), The Secret of Treasure Island (1938) and Convicts at Large (1938). He died on 9 August 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Make-Up Department
Monte Westmore was born on 22 July 1902 in Isle of Wight, England, UK. He is known for The King of Kings (1927). He was married to Edith McCarrier and Cora Williams. He died on 30 March 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Tisdale Justin Dow was born in Los Angeles, California. He was the son of Wilbur Olen Dow Sr., a real estate developer and Irene Eladist Bowen and the oldest of five children. He left Los Angeles to attend Adelphi College in Long Island, New York. While there, he majored in art, winning a gold medal in drawing in 1911. A number of his cartoons appeared in the Los Angeles Herald Newspaper. Shortly after, he began his stage career. This lasted two years before switching to silent films with Kalem Studios in New York. He appeared in several Alice Joyce films such as "The Vanderhoff Affair", "The Swamp Fox", "The Plains of Abraham" and "The Barefoot Boy". He typically portrayed foreign characters in supporting roles owing to his black hair. He later became a studio manager in Jacksonville, Florida for Kalem Film Co. He died in Oakland, California. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles. He was the uncle of Olympian Bowen Stassforth.
- William Faversham was born in London on February 12, 1868. After attending Hill-Martin College, he served for a short time in a cavalry regiment in Warwickshire. He made his stage debut on November 19, 1885, in a London vaudeville theater. Two years later, he came to New York, making his American debut on January 17, 1887, in "Pen and Ink." In 1893, he joined Charles Frohman's Empire Theatre Company and remained with the group for eight years. On August 19, 1901, he received star billing, playing Don Caesar in "A Royal Rival." His status rose, and during 1905-1907, he toured the United States in "The Squaw Man," which earned him a small fortune. He later appeared in many Shakespearean productions, playing Romeo opposite Maude Adams as Juliet. He made a handful of silent films, but with the advent of younger actors, his status as a matinee idol slowly faded. On July 20, 1925, Faversham married his third wife, Edith Campbell, at his estate in Huntington, Long Island. But in 1927, he filed for bankruptcy, and despite several attempts to recoup his previous fortunes, he never succeeded, although he did continue to work. In 1929, he toured in Australia, appearing in several plays. In 1931 he joined the Chicago Civic Shakespeare Society, appearing in such plays as "Hamlet" and "The Merchant of Venice." He founded a drama school in 1932, but it was short-lived. Faversham's final stage appearance was in 1934, as Jeeter Lester in "Tobacco Road." That same year, he returned to Hollywood, appearing in a few films before retiring in 1937. He then entered the Percy C. Williams home, a retreat on Long Island for aged actors. Ironically, the home was not far from Faversham's former estate. Faversham insisted he work for his keep, so he tended a garden. He died of a coronary embolism on April 7, 1940. He was buried in the Huntington Rural Cemetery in Bay Shore, next to his second wife, Julie Opp. Faversham's first wife was Marian Merwin. He had two sons with Julie Opp: Philip, an actor, and William Jr.
- Ida Carloni Talli was born on 31 January 1860 in Rome, Papal State [now Lazio, Italy]. She was an actress, known for Camille (1915), The White Sister (1923) and I promessi sposi (1922). She died on 23 April 1940 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.
- Writer Helen Simpson was born Helen De Guerry Simpson in Sydney, Australia, in 1897. Her father was a solicitor and her mother the daughter of a member of the French nobility. When she was a child her parents separated; her mother moved to London, England, and her father sent her to a Catholic convent boarding school. In 1914 she traveled to England to join her mother and attended Oxford in 1915. In 1918 she joined the Womens Royal Naval Service, posted to the decoding section of the Admiralty, and returned to Oxford the next year. She studied music, intending to become a composer, but became interested in the theatre; she wrote several plays and founded the Oxford Women's Dramatic Society. She ran afoul of the college authorities, however, who had strict regulations about male and female students acting together, and left Oxford in 1921 without finishing her degree.
In 1921 she returned to Sydney to attend her brother's wedding. There she published "Philosophies in Little", a collection of verse she had written. Two years later she wrote a play, "A Man of His TIme", based on the life of famed Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini, which was published in a "Sydney Daily Telegraph" literary contest, and was performed in Sydney the next year. She returned to Oxford in 1924. She bet someone that she could write a novel in five weeks and, as it turned out, she did--"Acquittal", a detective thriller published in London in 1925. It was a hit, and she turned out several more novels and plays in quick succession.
In 1927 she returned to Australia, and there married Denis Browne, a pediatric surgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children. They had a daughter, Clemence (named after her close friend, writer Clemence Dane). She was a prolific writer, turning out a slew of detective novels over the next few years (three of them in collaboration with Dane). She also wrote novels about the history of Australia and a biography of King Henry VIII.
In the 1930s she gave a series of lectures and broadcasts on literary history. She toured the US in 1938, but by that time her eyesight was failing and she cut back on her writing. She turned to politics and in 1938 was the Liberal candidate for Parliament for the Isle of Wight.
She died in Overbury, near Evesham, Worcestershire, In October of 1940, from injuries she received in an air raid. She was survived by her husband and daughter. - Writer
- Director
Hans Kyser was born on 23 July 1882 in Graudenz, West Prussia, Germany [now Grudziadz, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland]. He was a writer and director, known for Luther (1928), Faust (1926) and Helen of Troy (1924). He was married to Luise Dube. He died on 24 October 1940 in Berlin, Germany.- John Rand was born on 19 November 1871 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor, known for The Circus (1928), The Fireman (1916) and Name the Woman (1934). He died on 25 January 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Additional Crew
Smedley Butler was born on 12 March 1881 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA. He is known for American Secrets. He was married to Ethel Conway Peters. He died on 21 June 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Additional Crew
Ali Hubert was born on 1 December 1878 in Vienna, Austria. Ali was a costume designer, known for The Sea Hawk (1940), The Merry Widow (1934) and Sumurun (1920). Ali died on 1 June 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Maurice Jaubert was born on 3 January 1900 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Frances Ha (2012), L'Atalante (1934) and Port of Shadows (1938). He was married to Marthe Poidlouë. He died on 19 June 1940 in Azerailles, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France.- Hal Walters was born on 29 January 1892 in South Shields, Durham, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Yes, Madam (1933), The Vulture (1937) and The Viper (1938). He died on 7 September 1940 in London, England, UK.
- Writer
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- Producer
William Marien Conselman was at the time of his death one of Hollywood's best-paid writers. Like many others, he came from the ranks of newspaper writers, having worked on papers in both Los Angeles and New York. In 1925 Conselman, along with artist Charles Plumb, started the daily comic strip "Ella Cinders", a modern version of the Cinderella story. The strip would stay in syndication until 1961. Conselman's entrance into the film industry as a gag writer came as a result of work he did in the mid-20s for a Hollywood studio publicity department.
Conselman was the oldest of three children born to Henry and Marian Connely Conselman. His father was originally from Pennsylvania, where his parents settled after arriving from Germany. Henry was employed in the theater districts in New York as a carpenter. Marian was born in Ireland and came to America at an early age.
Conselman and his wife Mina were both collectors. He loved to cook and had a large collection of dishes, while her passion was acquiring sculptured hands. They had two children: daughter Diedre was, for a while, married to tennis champion Don Budge and son William Conselman Jr. who would also have a career in Hollywood. William Marien Conselman died at home after a month's illness. His early death at the age of 43 was attributed to a liver ailment.- John Hyams was born on 6 July 1869 in Syracuse, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Women Won't Tell (1932), Cameo Kirby (1930) and Broadway Scandals (1929). He was married to Leila McIntyre. He died on 9 December 1940 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Producer
- Director
- Actor
William Foster was born on 16 September 1860 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He was a producer and director, known for A Woman's Worst Enemy (1918), Honest Crooks (1930) and The Grafter and the Maid (1913). He was married to Ella B. Byrd. He died on 9 April 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Joseph Louis DeGrasse (May 4, 1873 - May 25, 1940) was born into a French Canadian family. He is the son of Lange DeGrasse and Ellen Comeaux of Bathurst, New Brunswick. Joseph is the older brother of actor Samuel DeGrasse. There were 11 siblings. Joe immigrated to the USA around 1880 as a young child. Joseph began his career as a journalist, but soon became enamored of the theater and took work as a stage actor. Joe DeGrasse met and married actress, Ida May Park (1879-1954). By 1910, he and Ida were acting in motion pictures in Burbank, California. Joe eventually appeared as an actor in 13 films, and wrote 2 screenplays, his real interest was in directing. Ida also became one of the few female directors working at the time. In 1915, Joe became a founding member of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a forerunner to the Director's Guild of America. During a career spanning from 1910 to 1935 he directed a total of 86 films, as well as writing and producing. Joseph DeGrasse died in Eagle Rock, California. Family lore contends that there is a link between the DeGrasse brothers and French Admiral and US Revolutionary War hero, François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse, 13 September 1722.- Actor
- Director
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Vsevolod Meyerhold was born Karl Theodor Kazimir Emil Meyerhold in 1874, in Penza, Russia, into the Russian-German family of Emil Meyerhold. He converted to Orthodox Christianity on his 21st birthday and took the name of Vsevolod in memory of the Russian writer Vsevolod Garshin. After conversion Meyerhold married Olga Mikhailovna (nee Munt) and the couple had three daughters. Vsevolod Meyerhold dropped out of Moscow University Law School to become an actor and director. He studied acting under Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and worked for him at the Moscow Art Theater from 1898 to 1902.
Meyerhold moved to St. Petersburg, where he became the leading advocate of Symbolism. He introduced new experimental staging methods into classical plays. After a successful gig as a chief producer at the Vera Komissarzhevskaya theatre, he was invited to the Imperial Directorship of Thatres. Meyerhold worked for Imperial Theatres in 1907-1917, staging both plays and operas. He published a book on innovations in theatrical productions, titled "On Theatre" (1913), that also included his theory of 'conditional theatre'. His acting method was different from that of Stanislavsky's. Meyerhold focused on gestures, poses, and movements in expressing the outward emotions. He argued that physical feel and looks will automatically cause emotional expression. His casting approach was applied by the Russian film directors Sergei Eisenstein, Sergey Gerasimov, Mikhail Romm. For portrayal of the Bolshevik revolutionaries they would cast athletic and attractive actors, while the bourgeois capitalists were played by obese and unattractive actors. Actors from the Meyerhold's theatre were in demand by film directors.
Meyerhold accepted the Russian revolution and joined the Bolshevik Party. But he strongly opposed to Socialist realism and was against censorship and political control of art. His famous productions included "The Dead Souls" (1926) by Nikolay Gogol and "The Bedbug" (1929) by Vladimir Mayakovsky. In 1930s Joseph Stalin started the Great Terror of brutal repressions against intellectuals and experimental artists. Vladimir Mayakovsky was found dead of a gunshot wound. Meyerhold was proclaimed "alien to the Soviet people". He was arrested and imprisoned on false accusations. His theatre was closed down in 1938 and actors became unemployed. His wife, actress Zinaida Raikh was mysteriously murdered in their Moscow apartment in 1939. His neighbors Vitali Golovin and Dmitri Golovin were exiled to Siberian prison-camps. His friends Sergei Prokofiev, Aram Khachaturyan, Anna Akhmatova and many others were banned from publications and performances.
Meyerhold was executed by the firing squad in February of 1940 (the exact date of his death is still unclear). He was rehabilitated posthumously by the Soviet government order that cleared him of all charges, 15 years after his execution.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Ruth Harriet Louise was a professional photographer in the 1920s. It was unusual enough for a woman to be in that profession at that time, but what was even more unusual was that she was the official photographer at MGM Studios from 1925 to 1930, a time when MGM's prestige was at its peak and its stars were the biggest in Hollywood--John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Marion Davies, Lon Chaney, among others--and she photographed them all, and often: it's estimated that she took more than 100,000 photos during her tenure at MGM. Today she is considered an equal with George Hurrell Sr. and other renowned glamor photographers of the era.- Most fans of popular--and prolific--western novelist B.M. Bower would probably be shocked to find out that the "B.M." stood for "Bertha Muzzie", for B.M. Bower was indeed a woman. Born in Cleveland, MN, in 1871, her family moved to Montana when she was a small child and she grew up there, where she loved to jump on a horse and roam the open ranges, hanging out with real cowboys and absorbing as much western lore and history as she could. She married Clayton J. Bower when she was 19 (she married three times altogether). By 1904 she had published her most famous--and many consider her best--novel, "Chip of the Flying U". It sold very well and was brought to the screen three times--with Tom Mix (Chip of the Flying U (1914)), Hoot Gibson (Chip of the Flying U (1926)) and Johnny Mack Brown (Chip of the Flying U (1939)). She wrote several sequels to "Chip" among her prolific output. She eventually left Montana and moved to Oregon for a while, but then moved to Los Angeles, CA, where she died in 1940.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Constance Willis was born on 5 October 1893 in Southwark, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Mikado (1939), Plain Jane (1939) and Hansel and Gretel (1937). She died on 17 November 1940 in Worcester Park, Surrey, England, UK.- Writer
- Director
- Editor
Grover Jones was born on 15 November 1893 in Rosedale, Indiana, USA. He was a writer and director, known for The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), Heir-Loons (1925) and Putting It Over (1922). He was married to Suzanne Avery. He died on 24 September 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Frank Tinney was born on 29 March 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Governor's Boss (1915) and Broadway After Dark (1924). He was married to Edna Davenport. He died on 28 November 1940 in Northport, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Eddie Nelson was born on 11 May 1894 in California, USA. He was an actor, known for Going Great (1925), Hot and Heavy (1925) and Two Masters (1928). He died on 5 December 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- John Graham Spacey was born on 8 August 1897 in Derbyshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Thank You, Jeeves! (1936), The Moon's Our Home (1936) and Who Killed Gail Preston? (1938). He died on 2 January 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
William 'Billy' Franey was a leading comic character actor of dishevelled appearance and fuzzy moustache, usually in a suit a couple of sizes too big. His screen career began around 1913, with leads in the 'Joker' comedy series released by Universal. He was co-starred with Louise Fazenda (until her departure for Keystone in 1915) and, subsequently, Gale Henry. In 1920, Franey joined an independent company, Reelcraft, where he made a series of one-reel shorts bearing his name. Few of them have survived. Those that have, notably The Plumber (1921) and The Bath Dub (1921), are brilliantly inventive examples of knockabout slapstick comedy.
Since Reelcraft was a state company, there was only limited regional release and little or no national publicity. As a result Franey's time at the top of his profession lasted merely a year. From 1921, he appeared in support of other comedians, notably in the 'Blue Ribbon' series produced by Joe Rock. He also played straight character roles in motion pictures, including a fair number of westerns. During the last three years of his life, he played 'Pop', father of Vivien Oakland and father-in-law to Edgar Kennedy, in a series of 18-19 minute comedy featurettes made for RKO. Billy continued acting on screen right up to his death from influenza in 1940.- Augustus Balfour was born in June 1866 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Passion Flower (1921), The Curious Conduct of Judge Legarde (1915) and The Pride of Jennico (1914). He died on 6 January 1940 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Ogden Crane was born on 1 September 1873 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Flirt (1916), The Light of Western Stars (1918) and The Corsican Brothers (1920). He died on 14 May 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Charles Lamy was born on 28 August 1857 in Lyon, Rhône, France. He was an actor, known for Les mystères de Paris (1922), Mon oncle Benjamin (1924) and Le blanc et le noir (1931). He died on 15 June 1940 in Orléans, Loiret, France.